Everyone gets asked work questions outside of work; the questions I get asked just happen to be about vaginas.

Dinner party conversations become interesting when people find out I’m an obstetrician / gynecologist. Neutral topics evolve, suddenly, and to my husband’s horror,  to a divulging of intimate details. From a relative stranger’s “nice to meet you” we instantly seem to segue to “Is it true you can’t get pregnant with vaginitis?”

Recently, across the length of a crowded table, an extremely earnest 24 year old confessed that she had been trying to get pregnant, was still not, and was concerned she never would be.

Me: How long have you been trying?

Her: I took out my ring two days ago.

Me: So you’ve been trying to get pregnant for two days?

Her: Yes. What do you think is wrong?

Since this blog is all about reproduction and pregnancy, I thought the question of fertility was a good way to start.

First of all, nothing was ‘wrong’. She now has a beautiful baby.

Women have an 80% chance of getting pregnant in the first year of “trying”. You fall out of this statistic if you have a history of infertility, or if you have a reason to question your potential fertility. These reasons most likely include a conversation with your doctor saying “because you have { __ } , you have a lower chance of getting pregnant in the future”. { __ } can be something like PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) or an infection in your fallopian tubes.  Being paranoid / a worry-wort does not count as a reason!!